A Christmas to remember
by ilse23
Summary: Christmas story for Callen and Joelle.


**A/N: A Christmas story for Callen and Joelle. Tied in with "Humbug" and continues after that. Hope you like it. Merry Christmas**

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><p>Callen walked back into Joelle's place after the case was wrapped up. Callen didn't know what to expect. Almost everything he told her had been a lie. He hoped everything would be okay between them. Callen walked in and found her staring out the back door. For a minute it was quiet.<p>

"Let me guess. Not the first time you've had to put your life on the line for a lady."

Callen looked down as Joelle stepped up to him.

"And Sam? I'm guessing he's… not in the medical equipment field, is he?"

"No."

"But Michelle, she's still…" Joelle didn't finish her sentence, she could see by Callen's face that it was not true.

"Their kids are just kids."

"Humbug."

"Yeah, I guess I did kind of ruin Christmas," Callen spoke, feeling bad for how things went down.

"No, that's not what…. At school this week I was reading the kids a Christmas carol. They, um, wanted to know what humbug meant. So we looked it up. It means deception…. A fraud….. An imposter."

The words hit Callen hard. He felt really bad right now. He felt like he had totally screwed it up with Joelle.

"Anyway… Thanks for saving my life Callen," Joelle spoke as she started to walk away.

"Jo..," Callen spoke trying to stop her.

"I think you should leave now."

Joelle walked away from Callen and Callen stood there dumb folded. He mentally slapped himself for how things went down. He felt like he had a good thing with Joelle but now he had probably ruined that. Callen walked outside and drove back to the office in his car.

"You okay G?" Sam asked.

"I'm not sure."

"How did Joelle take it?"

"Not well. I think I really screwed up this time."

"Just give her some time G. It's a lot to take in."

The team sat behind their desks and finished up their paperwork. Once Callen was done with his paperwork he stepped out of the bullpen. He went outside and pulled his phone out. He dialed Joelle's number and hoped that she would pick up.

Joelle sat on the couch trying to process all that had happened today when she heard her phone ring. She looked at the display and saw it was Callen. She wanted to pick up but she just couldn't right now. She needed time to think.

Callen listened as the phone rang and rang. A little later the phone went to voicemail. Callen left a message for Joelle, hoping she would listen to it. Callen hung up the phone and just sat there on the bench. He really hoped Joelle would listen to his message and that maybe she decided to give him a second change. He really liked spending time with Joelle.

Joelle held her phone in her hand once she saw she had a message from Callen. She contemplated if she should listen to it. She really liked spending time with Callen, but now she found out he had told her so many lies. After a few more minutes she decided to listen to the message.

"Jo, I hope you will listen to this message. I'm so sorry about how things went down. I never wanted you to find out like this. I'm so sorry I lied to you. There were times I wanted to tell you the truth but I never knew how. I know I messed up. I just hope that you might give me another chance. I really liked spending time with you. When you told me "I love you for coming to be me" today I kinda froze. I've never been good with showing my feelings and telling people how I feel about them. It caught me off guard and I didn't know how to respond to that.

I'm really glad that you're okay. When I found out that they would be after you to get the thumb drive I got scared. It didn't want anything to happen to you. You're right, it was not the first time I had to put my life on the line for a lady. But it was the first time I had to put my life on the line for a woman I really care about.

I really hope you will come and talk to me, even if it's just to break up. I just want to have the chance to explain everything to you. Please think about it. Whatever you decide I will support but I really hope you will give me another chance. I promise no more lies from now on. I'll be at the ice skating ring later if you want to talk. I really hope I'll see you there."

Joelle listened to the message, she could hear the sorrow in Callen's voice. Joelle could tell that he felt really bad for what happened. Should she go and talk to him? She really liked Callen. Could she see past all the lies? Could she ever trust Callen again?

…..

Callen and Sam were leaning over the railing at the ice skating ring.

"Any idea why Michelle wanted us all to come down here today?" Callen asked.

"Nope. She wants to skate, we skate."

"You didn't think to ask why?"

"Marriage G, marriage."

"Uh-huh."

"Hey," Michelle greeted them as she walked up to them.

"Hey Kam," Callen greeted Sam's daughter.

"Hey Uncle Callen," Kam responded and Callen gave her a hug.

"How are you?"

"Good."

"Hey," Callen said to Michelle and gave her a friendly kiss on her cheek.

"Hey," Michelle replied. "You heard anything from Jo?"

"No, I don't think I will," Callen spoke, the sadness in his voice was clearly hearable.

"Sam-dog!" Deeks spoke as he joined the group.

"You."

"I got them, I got your skates. Size 14."

"No."

"Come on, come on."

"Don't mind him," Michelle spoke to Deeks. "He's just mad cus he can't do it."

"What? I could if I wanted to. I don't. When am I gonna be in a situation where I need to put blades on feet and move across ice? I live in L.A.. It's ridiculous."

"All right, how about this?" Kensi started. "I will use my personal Christmas bonus to buy you lessons."

"Wait, we get a Christmas bonus this year?"

"We always get a Christmas bonus."

"Wait, seriously?" Deeks spoke as Kensi walked towards the ice. "Seriously? I didn't get a Christmas bonus."

"Always get a Christmas bonus."

"I didn't get a Christmas bonus!"

The rest watched as Deeks and Kensi went to skate over the ice. A little later Callen stepped on the ice as well. He watched as he saw Sam and Aiden. He was happy for Sam that he got the see his son. He hoped Joelle would show up today. He skated for a while. Just after he made a corner he stopped and looked back. There on the side of the ice rink stood Joelle, his Joelle. Callen took a deep breath and skated up to her.

"So, you can skate. I know that about you now," Joelle spoke.

Callen was happy to see her. "You got my message."

"Mm-hmm. That's them?" Joelle as she looked over to the other agents. "Your family?"

"Yeah." Callen thought about it for a while. "I'd like you to meet them." Callen spoke, looking at Joelle's reaction. "If you want," Callen quickly added.

"I can't, Callen." Callen looked down. She didn't want anything to do with him anymore. "I can't meet them. Not until I meet you."

Callen looked up surprised. He wasn't expecting this. He was glad. It looked like Joelle was giving him another chance. Callen leaned down on the railing.

"Okay. What do you want to know about me?"

"Hmm. Well….. How about we start with your first name?"

Callen smiled at her. Of all the questions in the world she asked him this one.

"That is a little bit complicated," Callen told her with a smile and he looked down.

"Well, we've got the entire Christmas to talk."

Callen looked at her surprised. "You still wanna celebrate Christmas with me?"

"Yes. I at least want to give it another try. I know you lied to me for a good reason. I would like to get to know the real Callen." Callen smiled at her. He wanted nothing more than to have another chance with her. "And we still have a dinner to finish."

"Let me just go say goodbye to the other and then we'll get out of here."

Callen stole a quick kiss from Joelle before he skated towards the exit.

"Sorry guys, but I'm gonna have to cut this fun short," Callen spoke to them.

"Everything okay G?" Sam asked his partner.

"Yeah it's fine. Jo's here."

"That's great G. Go have Christmas with her."

"Enjoy your holidays, I'll see you in the new year."

Callen took his skates off and brought them back to the rental boot before walking over to Joelle. He took his off car and followed Joelle to her place. There wasn't much damage to her home by the bullets. The CSU unit had recovered the casings and bullets from the house.

"You okay with being here?" Callen asked Joelle. "You know, since what happened here."

"I'm fine. I've got you here to protect me."

The dinner that Joelle was working on previously was burned so she fixed up something else. Callen put the Christmas music back on and set the table. About 30 minutes later they sat down to eat. Callen decided that he would tell Joelle the whole truth from now on. He didn't want to lie to her anymore.

"So, tell me, what's so complicated about your first name?"

"I don't really have one."

"What do you mean? You don't have one?" Joelle asked confused.

"I grew up in foster care so I never got to know my first name. The only thing with my name on it was my bag, G Callen stood on the bag so my first name was written down as just G. No one really calls me G just Sam does."

"No one ever told you your first name?"

"They didn't know it. My past is really complicated. I still don't know some things myself."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I've learned to deal with it."

"You didn't know your first name either?"

"I guess I forgot it with everything that happened. I didn't speak English when I arrived here in America. So I couldn't tell them anything and I didn't understand what they were talking about. So they just wrote down G Callen."

"What about your parents?"

"I don't remember much about them. About my dad I don't remember anything. I only have an old video of him where he's playing with me. The only thing I remember about my mother is her, me and my sister on the beach making sand castles."

"That's nice."

"It would have been if they hadn't shot her."

"They shot her? I'm so sorry Callen. I had no idea. I'm so sorry I asked."

"It's okay."

"It must have been hard for you."

"Yes it wasn't always easy being in foster care. Some places were better than others. That's why I'm not really good with showing my feelings and opening up to people. I've closed myself off after being in so many foster homes."

"How many have you been in?"

"37, from the time I was 4 till the time I was 18."

"I'm so sorry Callen," Joelle replied and she grabbed his hand. "I had no idea you had this kind of past." Joelle felt really bad for him. He didn't have any family besides the team he worked with.

"It's okay. It just is what it is."

"What do you know about your past?"

"Well, I know I was born in Romania. My mom was half Romani and my dad was Russian. I had a sister named Amy. My sister drowned when she snuck out of an orphanage. My mom was killed because of a blood feud, which started when my grandfather killed a bad guy in the war. They swore their revenge on my family."

"Did they try to kill you?"

"Yes, multiple times. But they didn't get a chance. We got them before they got a chance to."

"You killed them?" Joelle asked, still trying to wrap her head around what Callen really did for a living.

"Yes. But they were very bad people. They were a crime family. They were the worst of the worst. But don't worry, I'm safe from them now."

"Oh good."

Callen noticed that Joelle felt a bit uncomfortable that he had killed people.

"Jo, I don't just kill anyone. It's part of my job. Sometimes I have no other option but to shoot them. But all the people I've shot are bad people and it was to protect this country or the people in service."

"Who exactly are you working for? That female agent told me but it didn't ring a bell."

"NCIS, it stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service. I can tell you more about it but you have to promise me that it will stay between you and me. It's the reason why I didn't tell you the truth from the beginning."

"I promise Callen," Joelle replied, wondering what was so secret about this all.

"We're a special team with NCIS. We specialize in undercover operations. So that's why we, I, Sam and Michelle told you a different story. We don't really tell people outside the office who we really are. Usually we even use different names but because of Sam's kids we decided to keep our real names. That's why I didn't tell you, technically we don't exist outside the office."

"Was I just an undercover operation?"

"Definitely not," Callen told her as he looked her in the eye. "Until today there was nothing work related involved between you and me. It was never and it will never be an undercover operation. It's just you and me. Not everything I told you was a lie, I just lied about what I really do. I really care about you."

Joelle looked at him as he spoke to her. She saw that he really meant it. She smiled at him and they finished their dinner. Callen helped Joelle clean up after dinner. Once they were done Callen put the music a bit louder and walked back to Joelle. He pulled her to him and they started dancing.

"We didn't get to finish our dance before."

Joelle wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. Both of them closed their eyes as they stood there dancing. Callen was happy to hold her in his arms. He was so glad that everything had turned out okay. After Joelle had found about him he was afraid that it would be over between them. Luckily Joelle decided to give him another chance. He was really happy about that. He liked spending time with Joelle. He maybe could see himself settling down with her. They stood there dancing for a while before Callen pulled Joelle back up so she was facing him. They looked each other in the eye as Callen brought his lips closer to hers. Callen first kissed her softly before he pulled her closer and deepened the kiss.

Callen released her after a while and just looked into her eyes. He wanted to say it but he couldn't get the words out. So he opted to say something else.

"I'm really glad you're okay. When I found out you were involved it got worried about you."

"Thank you for protecting me Callen."

"You're welcome. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I would risk my life for you in a heartbeat."

Joelle smiled at him and kissed him again. "Would you like to stay here with me tonight?"

"I'd love to."

"Great, we can spend Christmas morning together than. I bought you a present."

"I bought you one too."

Callen poured them some more wine and they sat down on the couch and watched a Christmas movie on TV, miracle on 34th street. Once the movie had ended they locked up and went to the bedroom. Callen retrieved his bag from the car before going to bed. He changed into a shirt and pajama pants before lying down on the bed. Once Joelle was in she crawled up to Callen and lay her head down on his chest. Callen wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He gave her a soft kiss on her head.

"Goodnight Jo."

"Goodnight Callen."

Callen noticed that Joelle had fallen asleep after a while. He just lay there thinking about everything that had happened today. He was really glad that he didn't lose Joelle. There were no more secrets from now on. A little later Callen fell asleep too.

Callen woke up the next morning and noticed that Joelle was still lying on his chest, she was asleep. Callen didn't want to wake her so he stayed in bed a little longer. About 15 minutes later Joelle woke up. She stretched herself in Callen's arms and moaned lightly.

"Good morning Jo."

"Good morning Callen."

Joelle lifted her head up and gave Callen a kiss.

"Did you have a good sleep?"

"Yes I did. You?"

"Me too."

A little later they went out and Joelle made them some breakfast.

"You know, maybe you can teach me how to cook. That way I can make you breakfast," Callen suggested.

"Hmm, that might take a while," Joelle replied with a smile.

"I'm a quick learner."

"Maybe."

They had a nice breakfast before Callen went to retrieve his present.

"Merry Christmas Jo," Callen spoke as he gave Joelle the present.

"Thank you Callen."

Joelle took the present and opened it. She saw it was a box from the jewel store. Wondering what it was she opened the box.

"Oh my Callen, this is beautiful."

"You like it?"

"I love it, thank you."

Joelle leaned over to him and gave her a kiss.

"How about it put it on?" Callen took the necklace from Joelle and put it around her neck. "It looks beautiful."

It was a diamond necklace. It was in the shape of a heart with a small heart inside of it, one half was covered in blue diamonds and the other in white diamonds.

"Now your present. First I brought you something, which was just before the guy grabbed me. But I decided to buy something else, something I little bit more personal so I came up with this."

Joelle handed her present over to Callen and Callen took it. "Thank you Jo."

Callen opened the package and saw a watch inside of it. It was silver watch with silver band.

"There's something on the back of the watch." Callen flipped the watched over. On the bottom stood: 'Thank you Callen, love Jo.'

"Thank you Jo, this is really nice."

Callen leaned over to her and gave her a kiss.

"Tonight, I'm going over to Sam's house for dinner. If you want you can join me, only if you want to you don't have to."

"I'd like that."

"Great."

Callen spent the rest of the day at Joelle's house before going over to Sam's for dinner.

"Hey guys," Sam greeted them as they walked through the door.

"Hey Sam."

"Hey Jo, nice that you came to join us."

"Hey Uncle Callen," Kam came running out of the kitchen.

"Hey Kam," Callen greeted her and gave her a hug.

"Hello Ms. Taylor," Kam greeted Joelle.

"Hello Kam, did you have a nice Christmas morning?"

"Yes I got a lot of presents."

"That's good."

Joelle went to help Michelle in the kitchen.

"So I take it everything is fine between you and Jo?" Sam asked his partner.

"Yeah, we're okay. I'm glad she knows now, no more lying."

"I'm happy for you that she decided to stick around."

They had a nice dinner at Sam's house. Callen dropped Joelle off at her house before going home.

…..

The next day Callen decided to drop by Ikea. He wanted to get some furniture so he could ask Joelle over for New Year's Eve. Callen made a list with what he needed before going to store. He walked through the store and picked out the items he needed. He wrote down the numbers on the list and went down to the storage room. He crabbed two carts so he could put everything on it. He bought a light turquoise sofa with matching arm chair. He bought a coffee table in solid white-stained pine. In the same color he bought a table for the TV and a side table. He also bought a half round table to put against the wall between the kitchen and the living room and a mirror for above it.

For in the bedroom he bought a real wood veneer dark queen-sized bed with headboard and low foot end with matching mattress. In the same color he bought a wardrobe with 2 sliding door and 4 drawers and 2 nightstands. He also bought 2 table lamps with caps for on the nightstands and some bedding.

For in the dining room he bought a solid wood table with 6 chairs. The chairs had paws in the same color wood and the seat was a light blue fabric. He also bought some stuff like pans, glasses, cutlery and plates to put in the kitchen cabinets.

For now he had everything so he went to pay for everything. Some things he had to pick up at the warehouse. He rented a trailer so he could take everything home with him. He had called Sam over to come and help him. Together they carried in the stuff.

"It's nice that you finally bought some furniture G."

"I want to ask Joelle over to my place so I need to have some furniture."

"That's nice."

They put everything together. Once they were finished Callen offered Sam a beer before Sam went home. Callen left and went to buy some more things. He stopped by the electronics shop and bought a TV set and a CD player. He went to the garden store and went to look for a Christmas tree. Luckily there was still a nice Christmas tree available for Callen.

"A little late for a Christmas tree sir," the salesman spoke to Callen.

"Yeah I know, I wasn't home for the holidays but I'm having some people over for New Year's so I wanted to buy a tree."

"Ah that's nice. Happy holidays sir."

"Thank you, you too."

Callen bought some decorations for the tree as well. He went home and put the tree up. He looked around his place. He really liked how it looked. Just left of the front door stood the sofa with a side table next to it, the arm chair just in the corner next to the fireplace and the TV stood in the other corner next to the fireplace. To the left of the front door was the dining room. Now just hoping that Joelle would come over for New Year's. He pulled out his phone and called Joelle.

"Hey Callen."

"Hey Jo, how are you?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"I'm fine too. I've got a question for you. I want you to come and spend New Year's Eve at my place, if you want."

"You've never invited me over to your place."

"I know, but I want to now."

"Alright, I'll be there."

"Great." Callen gave her his address. "Come over around 6, we'll have some dinner first."

"Sure, I'll see you then."

"Alright, bye Jo."

"Bye Callen."

Callen was happy that Joelle was coming over for New Year's.

On the day of New Year's Eve Callen went to the store to get some dinner. He was going to try to make some dinner for Joelle and himself, it couldn't be that hard. He looked through the aisles and found something he could put in the oven. He got everything that was on the package and paid for everything. Just after 5pm he started to make it. He looked at the instructions on the package and followed them. He needed to bake something in a pan first. Once that was done he put everything into the oven dish and into the oven.

Just after 6pm the doorbell rang. Callen went to open the door and found Joelle there.

"Hey Jo," Callen greeted her.

"Hey Callen," Joelle replied and gave Callen a kiss.

"Hmm what smells so delicious here?" Joelle asked as she stepped in.

"I made us a little dinner."

"You made us dinner? You can't cook."

"I know, but I wanted to make us something, it's from the oven so I think it should be fine."

"I'm sure it will be."

Joelle looked around the house. So this was Callen's place. She looked at the furniture and it all seemed to be brand new.

"You just got this couch?"

"Yeah I did." Callen scratched the back of his head. "I didn't really have any furniture."

"You didn't have any furniture?" Joelle asked surprised.

"No I didn't, just a chair and a small table."

"Where did you sleep?"

"On my bedroll."

"Isn't that uncomfortable?"

"Nah, it's okay, I don't sleep that much anyway."

"So you got all this furniture for me, so you could ask me over here?"

Callen walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Yes I did."

"It's very nice. Thank you for inviting me over."

Joelle was about to kiss Callen but they were interrupted by the beep of the oven. Callen gave her a quick kiss and went to the kitchen. He put the oven dish on the table.

"Dinner's ready, I think." He sat Joelle down and sat down himself. "I hope it tastes nice."

Callen put some on the plates and they took a bite. It wasn't that bad at all.

"Hmm, there might be hope for you as a cook."

They enjoyed a nice dinner and just relaxed around the house until it was almost midnight. Joelle had brought fritters with her and put them in the oven while Callen went to open the champagne. He poured them two glasses as Joelle brought out the fritters. It was just 2 minutes to midnight. Callen and Joelle looked at the clock on the TV and counted down as it got to 10 seconds.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, Happy New Year," they both said.

Callen pulled Joelle close to him. "Happy New Year Jo."

"Happy New Year Callen."

Callen kissed Joelle. "I love you Jo."

Joelle looked at him for a while. Callen had said those 3 little words to her. After everything he had told her Joelle knew that this wasn't easy for him. Callen couldn't believe he had said those 3 words to Joelle. He was never really good with showing his emotions but after everything that had happened he realized that he really loved Joelle and he wanted her to know.

"I love you too Callen, or should I call you G?"

"You can call me G if you want."

"I love you too G."

Callen kissed her again before taking their champagne glasses and they drank a bit and ate fritters. Together they stood in front of the window watching the fireworks. Joelle stood there leaning against Callen and Callen had his arm around her. His life was just right at the moment.

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><p><strong>The end. Thank you for reading and reviewing<br>**


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